World’s First Personal AI Assistant for the Ears from Oticon Will Enable People with Hearing Loss to Train Their Hearing Aid According to Their Lifestyle

Oticon Kaizn™ is yet another groundbreaking technological feature from Oticon to transform the lives of Oticon Opn™ hearing aid users

Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8th, 2019 – The World’s first personal AI assistant for hearing aids is here. Oticon Kaizn™ will provide Oticon’s Opn™ 2.4GHz connected hearing aid users an innovative way to train their hearing aid to deliver them the best personalised sound experience. Unveiled at CES 2019, Oticon Kaizn™ is the next big step in Oticon’s work to improve human health and wellbeing through hearing.

With Kaizn™, Oticon Opn™ hearing aid users will be able to take charge of how their hearing aid performs during their day to day routine. Utilising every day iOS devices, especially the ultra-convenient Apple Watch, Oticon Kaizn™ communicates with users to determine their hearing intentions in different sound environments. By also understanding the typical listening environments where users live, work and socialise, such as cafés or the office, Kaizn™ can continuously train to automatically implement informed, tailored changes to a user’s hearing aids settings, and ultimately improve a user’s hearing experience in every-day life.

Now, for example, based on confirmed previous user intent, a hearing aid can anticipate a user’s regular Monday morning meeting and ensure that their settings are ready for ‘focus’ or assume that a user would like their settings to provide them with ‘comfort’ when they take a relaxing afternoon tea break at a local café. Users are also provided with the flexibility to change adaptions made by the AI at any time.

“We appreciate that every hearing aid user is different and that their needs and preferences are changeable,” explains Michael Porsbo, Oticon Project Manager. “Only the user knows whether they want to hear the conversation at their table, or relax to the music playing in the background, which is why with Kaizn™, we take a leap forward in human-driven hearing healthcare by using AI to optimise a more personal sound experience.”

“An Oticon hearing aid connected to Kaizn™ will persist in getting better and better over time, enabling continuous user optimisations to positively affect hearing health and ultimately overall well-being. Just as Spotify recommends new songs based on a user’s past selections, thanks to artificial intelligence, Kaizn™ keeps getting to know a hearing aid user and their preferences as it learns from the data it collects. It is our dream that Oticon Kaizn™, as an ever expanding, ever improving solution and system, will provide continuous added value to hundreds of thousands of Oticon hearing aid users worldwide.,” concludes Michael.

Leading hearing aid provider, Oticon, the company most famous for developing Opn™, the world’s first Internet-connected hearing aid, has successfully delivered a number of lifestyle-enhancing features and solutions that improve the quality of life for people with hearing loss through better hearing. The company is also renowned for trailblazing hearing aid features through clever partnership with modern technologies, and most recently has been a pioneer in the use of artificial intelligence. All of these proficiencies are perfectly demonstrated in the new Oticon Kaizn™ Personal AI Assistant for the ears.

In 2018, Oticon enabled its internet-connected hearing aid users to take steps towards managing their own hearing care with the launch of the hearing technology, HearingFitness™. Both HearingFitness™ and Oticon Opn™, Oticon’s connected hearing aid, have been recognized by the CES judging panel, winning Innovation Awards in 2017 and 2018. This year, Oticon Kaizn™, has also captured the attention of the CES Innovations Awards judges to be selected as an Honoree in two 2019 CES Innovation Awards categories.

Kaizn™ will be made available for the latest Oticon hearing aids in the Oticon ON app during 2019. Information on Kaizn™ will continuously be updated on www.kaizn.com

500 million people worldwide suffer from hearing loss. The majority are over the age of 50 while eight percent are under the age of 18. It is Oticon’s ambition that our customers – hearing clinics throughout the world – prefer to use our products for people with impaired hearing. Through passion, dedication and professional expertise, Oticon develops and manufactures hearing aids for both adults and children. Oticon supports every kind of hearing loss from mild to severe and we pride ourselves on developing some of the most innovative hearing aids in the market. Headquartered out of Denmark, we are a global company and part of William Demant Group with more than 13,000 employees and revenues of over DKK 13 billion. www.oticon.global

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